About

Abstract

I’ve always been struck—ouch—at the futility of employing washroom hand dryers. Other than those Airblade contraptions that also sonically wash your eardrums, you press a button only to find a semblance of mildly warm air hitting your responsibly washed hands, and little else. This is less than useful.

So you hit up the paper towel dispenser, only to discover there isn’t anywhere convenient to discard the used portion. Kubernetes.

Me

My name is Ruben Schade, and I’m mostly harmless. I live to tinker with vintage computer hardware, write, drink interesting coffee in nice cafes in the mid-morning, and flesh out about pages not unlike this one. My beautiful girlfriend Clara and I spend far too much time drinking bubble tea and travelling.

I make a living as a technical writer and solutions architect for an IaaS company in Sydney and San Francisco, but I grew up in Singapore where I developed a taste for well-funded infrastructure.

The site

Rubenerd is my weblog and podcast of things that have interested me since 2004. I write it because it’s fun; if people enjoy reading it, so much the better. Topics include anime, travel, public transport, operating systems, digital privacy, Asia, and coffee.

The latest design is the simplest I could make it, partly in protest of what the modern web has become. There’s no JavaScript, downloading fonts, embeds, hamburger icons, looping background videos, popups, newsletter signup prompts, sticky navbars, autoplaying videos, iframes, or design sense. Wait, I needed that last one, whoops.

It’s proudly powered by FreeBSD, everyone’s favourite operating system. More information can be found on the Engine Room Omake page.

Rubi the mascot

Rubi is the site’s mascot, drawn by Clara Tse. Her mismatching, Miku-esque boots elude to my predilection for not wearing matching socks.

(Funny story, I was chided for wearing orange and red socks during a high school work experience day, with the implication that I wasn’t taking the assignment seriously. The day I’m looked over on account of my socks is when I miss a bullet).

We agreed that Rubi was born in Sapporo on her birthday. Her favourite foods are shiroi koibito biscuits and curry udon, washed down with green tea lattes. These are burned off by frequent trips to the pool and nature hiking in the Hokkaido wilderness. She enjoys listening to jazz music, reading, cosplaying, and watches slice-of-life anime that may or may not have robots.